


While Everybody Else Is Sleeping

by 1more_troubled_soul



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28167855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1more_troubled_soul/pseuds/1more_troubled_soul
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester





	1. Chapter 1

"We're back bitches!" Charlie announced as she entered through the bunker door, her arms full of grocery bags. The red haired girl descended the stairs before coming to an abrupt halt after the bottom step.

  
"Woah," she said, her eyes lighting up, "Is that who I think it is?"

  
Standing in front of her was Castiel in his traditional tan trenchcoat and blue neck tie. He gave her a shy smile and slight bow of his head before Sam spoke up from behind him.

  
"Charlie, Cas. Cas..." Sam trailed off as Charlie flung her arms around the angel. Castiel tensed awkwardly at the sudden display of affection. Charlie pulled back, still smiling, seemingly unbothered by the lack of reciprocation.

  
"I thought you'd be shorter!" she gleefully explained before stepping past him to place the grocery bags onto the map table.

  
"Why don't I get these to the fridge." Sam said as he picked up the bags again and made his way to the kitchen. Charlie returned her attention to the dark haired man.

  
"Heard you got your mojo back." she said happily.

  
"Y-yes. My grace it's... it's been restored." Cas stammered. He shifted somewhat awkwardly but Charlie didn't know whether he was uncomfortable with the subject or just struggled with social interactions. She decided to press her luck, knowing that what she had to ask was important.

  
"So..." she started, "can't you just... you know... cure Dean?" Charlie could only hope that the solution to curing Dean of the mark of cain would be so easy. She could see the answer in Cas' eyes before he even spoke.

  
"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." The frustration and disappointment was clear in his voice.

  
Charlie nodded with resolution. "It never is, is it?"

  
The pair stared at each other for a moment. The air thick with the sadness they shared over the fate that awaited their mutual friend. Charlie decided change the subject in hopes of lightening the mood.

  
"Do you think you can do anything about my carpal tunnel?" she asked, half joking. She raised her right arm to show Castiel her wrist brace. The angel glanced down at it before bringing two fingers up to her forehead. Charlie felt a warm energy flow through her body for just a moment. Castiel brought his hand back down to his side.

  
"Is that it?" she asked, confused.

  
"Your carpal tunnel and your bullet wound are now healed." Castiel explained. Charlie smiled and placed a hand over the part of her stomach that was shot before she arrived at the bunker. "You may wanna continue wearing your wrist brace at night though."

  
Excited, Charlie playfully punched Castiels' upper arm. "Did we just become best friends?" she asked, her face beaming.

  
Cas' expression shifted to something that one could determine as fear. The more Charlie saw of the angel, the more she determined that yeah, he probably has some social anxieties.

"Hey!" Deans voice rang out from the top of the stairs, "look who decided to show." Castiel looked up to see Dean happily descending the stairs, his arms full with more grocery bags and a couple boxes of pizza.

  
"So... you're back?" Dean asked as he moved to set the pizza down. Castiel opened his arms and gestured to himself as he nodded his confirmation. "Hundred percent?" Dean pressed. Cas nodded once again with a tight smile. "How did that happen?" Dean questioned.

  
Sam had returned to the room just in time to hear Dean's question. Castiel looked to him, slightly panicked.

  
He and Cas had just gone to Heaven, broke Metatron out jail, after which Cas forced him to show him where he hid his grace. Then Metatron escaped with the demon tablet once he realized that Cas had found his grace and would be at full power. All of which Dean knew nothing about. Sam gave him a look that said 'you're on your own on this one'.

  
"Um," Cas started nervously. He turned to face Dean. "It was Hannah," he explained, "she managed to get the location of the remainder of my grace out of Metatron."

  
Dean stared at Cas before looking over to his brother for a moment, possibly looking for any reason for this to be a false explanation. When he didn't find one, he looked back to Cas.

  
"Awesome!" he said with a smile and a shrug. He turned his attention back to Sam, "Told you we were due for a win." Sam returned his brothers smile, although his was a bit more strained.

  
Dean leaned forward and patted Castiel on his upper arm. "Good to have you back pal." he said before he gathered the groceries to move them into the kitchen.

A couple hours and several beers and slices of pizza later, the four sat at the table inside the kitchen bunker. Charlie and Dean were in a debate that held no real heat over which was better, Star Wars or Star Trek. It was one they've had before but never managed to come to a unanimous decision on.

Sam was quieter and more somber than usual, his mind clearly somewhere other than the conversation in front of him. Castiel on the other hand was livelier than ever. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he was watched Dean animatedly defend why Han Solo is the best character in all of history.

  
"You only say that cause you're practically the same person!" Charlie laughed before taking a sip of her beer.

  
Dean placed his hand over his heart and wiped away a fake tear. "Charlie Bradbury, that is the nicest thing you've ever said to me." he said in a fake choked up voice. Charlie laughed and rolled her eyes.

  
Sam slowly stood up and started gathering his trash.

  
"Hey, you off to bed?" Dean asked, looking up at his younger brother.

  
"Yeah, sorry. I'm pretty beat." Sam said with a small yawn.

  
"Ehh, party pooper!" said Dean before making a shooing motion with his hand. "Go on, go get your beauty sleep Sammy."

  
Sam rolled his eyes before saying goodnight to Charlie with a kiss to the top of her head and a goodnight to Cas with a pat on his shoulder. He stopped at the doorway and tilted his head back in acknowledgement as his way of saying goodnight to Dean. Dean toasted his beer in return and then Sam left the three of them for the night.

  
"As I was saying," Charlie started, "you're only biased to Star Wars because you and Han Solo are so similar. I swear, if I didn't know that those Supernatural books were written by a prophet, I'd think you were based on him."

  
Dean rolled his eyes and sighed. "Ugh those stupid books. I still can't believe Chuck published more after meeting us. That's just creepy, you know? I'm just glad he stopped after the whole Sammy taking Lucifer to the cage thing." Dean downed the rest of his beer before his eyes fell on Charlie's confused face.

"What?" he questioned.

  
"Um, what ever happened to Chuck?" she said, looking between the two men that sat in front of her.

  
"I would assume he's dead." Cas answered. "Kevin Tran was the prophet that was next in line." He looked over to see Dean's eyes go dark and his jaw clench.

  
"Yeah, well, he's dead too." He explained, his voiced laced with guilt and anger. "So some other sucker is probably running around with the word of God buzzing in his head."

  
"Huh." Charlie said, her eyes shifting from left to right.

  
"Why do you ask?" Castiel wondered out loud.

  
"Well, um," Charlie began to nervously pick at her nails, her eyes still cast downward. "I may have stumbled upon your next prophets... A03 account."

  
"A oh what?" Dean questioned. He was certainly feeling more sober than he was a moment ago.

  
"A03. It means ‘archive of our own.’ It's a website... for... fanfiction." Charlie explained. She looked up sheepishly, a guilty smile on her face.

  
"Oh for crying out loud!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Not this again! Not you too!!"

  
"Hey! It was an accident!" the red head defended herself.

  
"Oh yeah, how do you "accidentally" look up Supernatural fanfiction?" Dean was beginning to get frustrated. He's seen the type of things that 'fans' have come up with. Hell, he had just been a part of that musical that girl Marie did.

  
"Well, don't judge me but I was... googling myself." Charlie shrugged. Cas looked at her, his eyebrows pinched and his head tilted in confusion. Just as he was going to ask Charlie what that meant, Dean spoke up.

  
"Why would you do that?"

  
"I don't know!" she shouted, "call it what you want! Curiosity, vanity, whatever! Point is, when I googled myself I found a link to a fanfiction that had me in it. Which, should be impossible since I met you guys way after Chuck stopped publishing his books."

  
"Okay..." Dean said as he worked through the possibilities. "What makes you think this is a prophet and not some super stalker that we should be worried about?"

  
"Because," Charlie leaned in, her eyes locked on Deans, "I read the parts I'm in and they're accurate. Like scary accurate. Like the writer knew my exact thoughts and feelings."

  
Cas moved forward to catch Charlies stare with his own. "How much has this author written? What was the last thing they wrote about?"

  
"And how did they know to post it on that website? That people would see it as 'fanfiction' or whatever!" Dean questioned angrily.

  
Charlie pulls out her phone and started scrolling. "Um, they update every two weeks or so. And I'm assuming they were fans of Chucks books before they became a prophet. They probably think they just got gifted with some awesomely detailed fic ideas." She stopped scrolling and skimmed over the last few paragraphs of the most recent chapter that was posted. "The last thing I remember reading was Dean and Sam going after some ghost nun and Dean talking to a priest in a confessional booth."

  
Dean's eyes widened and his face turned a light shade of red. Castiel looks over at him in shock.

  
"You went to confession?"

  
Dean swallowed nervously. "Uh y-yeah but I had to. I was working a case! The ghost was targeting people who had gone to that confession booth." He explained defensively before turning his attention back to Charlie.

  
"Did... did you read what I said?" he asked, fearing the answer.

  
Charlie looked at him apologetically. "Dean I'm so sorry. I wasn't sure if it was real and I just wanted to know how much this person wrote. If I had known I never would have invaded your privacy like that."

  
Dean's eyes flickered over to Cas and then back to Charlie. He could see she felt genuinely guilty. He reached out his hand to cover her wrist. "Hey, it's not your fault. You didn't know."

  
"I'm sorry Dean." she repeated.

  
"Nah... nah, it's cool. I trust you." Dean responded and gave her a soft smile. Castiel's eyes looked downward. He wondered what Dean could have said in the confession booth that he could trust Charlie knowing but not him.

  
"I think I'm gonna head to bed." Dean announced before standing up. "Charlie, please feel free to stay the night, we have plenty of room. Besides, you have to help me shut down the entire internet tomorrow so no more of our lives gets into the hands of teenage girls with a keyboards and no social life."

  
Charlie nodded with a sad smile. Dean threw his trash away then turned to say goodnight to the pair.

  
"Night Cas." he said with a double pat to the angels shoulder. "Night Charlie." He pulled her in close to his body and kissed the top of her head, the same way Sam had. Charlie grabbed his arm before he had the chance to let go.

  
"Hey Dean," she looked up at him, "I'm always here for you, just so you know. If you ever need to talk or whatever."

  
His eyes flickered over to Cas who was politely looking away to allow them to share this moment.

  
"I know." he said simply. He squeezed her again before they both let go. Dean made his way to his room, leaving Charlie and Cas alone together.

  
"So..." Charlie said simply to fill the silence that now filled the room as she picked at the label on her beer bottle.

  
Cas's face was still pinched with confusion and concern. He wanted desperately to ask her what Dean said in the confessional booth but was immediately flooded with guilt for even briefly thinking of betraying Deans trust.

  
Instead he asked, "What did you mean when you said you 'googled' yourself?"

  
Charlie burst out laughing and the angel felt his mouth twitch with the desire to join her, though he did not understand why what he said was humorous.

  
"Here, I'll show you." Charlie bent down to pull her laptop from her bag. Once she turned it on, she clicked on one of the icons on the desktop that opened her internet browser.

  
"See, this is the google search engine." she explained. Castiel leaned forward to get a better look at her screen. He recognized the search bar that he used when doing research on Sam's computer. "I'm sure you've probably looked things up using google before but instead of typing in something like vampires or werewolves, you just type in your own name."  
Charlie demonstrated by typing in 'Charlie Bradbury'. Sure enough, links to several articles came up, one of which was a different color than the others and included the term 'A03'.

  
Cas pointed at the screen, "Is that the 'fanfiction' you were talking about?"

  
Charlie nodded before saying, "Well, it hardly counts as fanfiction if everything that happened in it was not only real but telegraphically inserted into the writers mind. It's kind of cheating if you ask me."

  
"May I read it?" Cas asked.

  
Charlie seemed apprehensive. "I mean, sure but you should know that there's some heavy stuff in here." She seemed to catch herself, "I mean, of course you'd know! You lived it! Just..." Charlie sighed before pulling up the first chapter that picked up after Chuck had left off. She scooted the laptop over to the angel. "Just know that there are some details in here that might hurt you and some that Dean and Sam might not want you to know." She paused, "and some that you might not want them knowing."

  
Castiel nodded. He knew where he stood currently with Sam and Dean. They trusted him and he trusted them. He could handle reading about his past mistakes.

  
Charlie stood and cleared the rest of the trash from the table.

  
"Oh, here." she said, grabbing the power cord from her bag and plugging it in to the outlet closest to Cas. "I have a feeling you'll probably be reading that all night since you don't sleep and I don't want it to die on you."

  
"Thank you." Castiel said in his all too serious tone.

  
"No problem. Goodnight!" Charlie responded. She stopped in the doorway before she turned back to Cas. "Oh and Castiel?"

  
The angel looked up from the screen.

  
"Don't read that last chapter, the one that has Dean going to confession."

  
Castiel nodded, even more seriously than before. Charlie smiled at him before saying goodnight once again and leaving to head off to bed.

  
Cas stared at the screen for a few moments suddenly feeling nervous. He wanted to read about himself and Dean and Sam, relive the good and reflect on the bad. But, he was scared that this was somehow an invasion of privacy. How was it fair that hundreds of strangers got to know their every thought and emotion but he felt guilty for wanting the same? These were his friends, their lives, their stories. He had every right to enjoy the content that he helped create.

  
With new found determination, Cas began to read the first chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

It's about four in the morning once Castiel reaches the chapter that ends with the leviathan leading his body into the lake. He had to take a break here, just as he had done several times already. He remembers working with Crowley. He remembers how he felt when Dean realized he betrayed him. Now he had read exactly how Dean had felt in that moment.

Heartbroken.

He had never meant to hurt Dean like that. He didn't even realize he had the power to.

After he had taken a moment to reassure himself that Dean had forgiven him and that they had moved past that particular mistake, he carried on. His next break came not too much later when he read what Sam went through when he first removed the wall protecting his memories of hell. Shame washed over him and he had to force himself keep the tears from spilling over. Still, he pressed on.

He read about what he had done when he claimed to be God. He read about Dean's fear and anger and concern. He read about how when he stood in front of the portal to purgatory, attempting to purge the souls from his body and how when he begged for Dean's forgiveness, apparently he already had it.

Now, as he prepares himself to read how Dean reacted to what Dean would have presumed to be his death, he realizes he has no idea what to expect. They've never really discussed what Sam and Dean did or how they felt while Cas was off believing he was the healer Emmanuel. He took a steadying breath and began to read the next chapter.

_"Sam, Dean and Bobby stared at the spot on the lake where Castiel's body had just been._

  
_'Dammit.' Dean said gruffly._

  
_'You said it.' Bobby agreed, 'Those... whatever you call them-'_

  
_'Leviathan' Sam supplied._

  
_'Right,' replied Bobby, 'If they're in the pipes, they got themselves a highway to anywhere.'_

  
_'Awesome.' said Dean, voice full of resign. Suddenly something caught his eye. He looked down to see Castiel's trenchcoat floating in the water at his feet. Dean felt a twinge of pain in his chest, like a stab in the heart, before he moved to retrieve the coat._  
_Bobby and Sam silently watched as Dean pulled it from the water, their hearts aching for Dean's loss._

  
_'Okay,' Dean starts, his voice shaky, 'So he's gone.' He tried to turn his attention Bobby but he knew he wouldn't be able to hide his despair if he looked him in the eye._

  
_'Yeah, rest in peace.' Bobby said with much less emotion. He was too used to what this life does to the ones you love. 'If that's in the cards.'_

  
_Dean began folding Castiel's trenchcoat in his hands. His lips quivered and his voice wavered as he spoke, 'Dumb son-of-a-bitch.' It took everything in him not to break down as he held on tightly to the only he had left of his best friend._

  
_Bobby attempted to lighten Dean's heavy heart with a joke. 'Well, he was friends with us, wasn't he? Can't get much dumber than that.'_

  
_Dean didn't laugh._

  
_'Come on,' Bobby said, knowing they had got to get a move on, 'Those things will be coming up for air soon.'_

  
_Sam looked at Dean with such apologetic sadness. He knew how badly Dean must had been hurting and he knew he couldn't do or say anything that would have made it right._

  
_The three men walked away from the lake, Castiel's trenchcoat in the hands of the one who will treasure it and keep it safe in the hopes that his angel would return to him."_

Castiel sat back for a moment before rereading the scene again.

  
"despair", "the ones you love", "his angel".

  
Cas couldn't help but wonder if the author of these chapters had taken creative liberty with their choice of words or... He quickly turned his attention back to the screen and began reading at a much quicker pace. His heart was pounding against his chest as he desperately searched for more moments that described Dean's emotions following his sudden demise.

Cas struggled to make through the next several chapters. He read about how Dean had increased his alcohol consumption, as well as his ever stunting trust issues. He learned that his actions had caused Dean to second guess who he let into his life and that his grief had clouded his judgment on more than one occasion. It took Dean being drugged by the turducken sandwich to show his true feelings, although they were cloaked in sarcasm.

  
_"Dean swung his legs as he sat on top the sink._

  
_'Are you kidding? I'm fine!' he slurred, 'I--I actually feel great. The best I've felt in a couple months.' Dean said, shocked to found out that he meant it. 'Cas? Black goo? I don't even care anymore.' he said with reluctant honesty. For the first time since he lost Cas, he didn't feel the soul crushing weight of pain, guilt and loss. For the first time, he felt nothing._

  
_'And you know what's even better? I don't care that I don't care. I just want my damn slammer back.'"_

Cas was dishearted to learn just how deep into his apathy Dean had spiraled. He read about how Bobby had pulled him back up, forced him to keep fighting when all Dean wanted to do was give into his hopelessness.

  
Then, Dean had lost him too.

  
He read as Dean was forced to push his piles of grief further and further down and how he put on a brave face in order to keep working, to finish the next job. He used Bobby's flask as an excuse to "honor his memory" thereby increasing how often he drank.

  
Cas read about Dean sleeping with an Amazonian woman who ended up giving birth to his daughter immediately after. He blinked in shock as he took in this information. Why would Dean never mention her? Then, he learned that she attempted to murder him which was thwarted by Sam killing her instead.

  
_"This had left Dean feeling even more hallow. Dean had felt as though everything, every person he touched was cursed. Yet, he carried on. "_

  
Castiel shook his head in silent disbelief. He always knew Dean was strong, stronger than any man, or angel, or any creature that he had ever met. However, getting this unique look into the hunters mind during a time in which Castiel could not be there for him, gave him a new found burst of admiration accompanied by overwhelming sadness when he remembered their current situation.

  
They had still not come up with a solution to removing the Mark of Cain from Dean's arm. Why was Dean the one forced to bare all of these burdens when he, of all people on earth deserved peace. Castiel knew he would do whatever it took to save Dean from this fate, or he would die trying.

The next chapter opened with Sam being admitted to a psych ward much to Deans angered surprise. Castiel knew he was approaching the part of the story in which he returned. He sat there and read all of the things that Sam had to deal with because of what he had decided to do.

He began to fill ill, even more guilt consumed him as he learned the details of Sam's suffering. He had to take several calming breaths before continuing to the next part of the chapter.

  
_"Dean had gotten desperate to find a way to help his brother. He had called a hunter friend who had suggested a healer he knew that was "the real deal". Dean never believed in good things unless there was some sort of catch. Still, he was prepared to try anything if it meant saving Sammy._

  
_Dean made his way up the concrete steps that led to the porch of the seemingly average home. He tapped his knuckles against the door and waited for a moment before a man greeted him._

_'Hi uh, is this Daphne Allen's house? I'm looking for Emmanuel.' Dean explained._

  
_'Well, you found him.' the man replied cheerfully. 'Daphne's resting if you don't mind.' The man gestured for Dean to step back to allow him to move forward and shut the door behind him._

  
_'Uh,' Dean started nervously. He cleared throat, "so, I was hoping, uh...' His voice trailed off as he looked over to the window of the house. Through the curtains he could see a brunette women tied to a chair, her mouth gagged as she struggled against the restraints._

  
_His demeanor immediately shifted into hunter mode as he returned his attention to the man in front of him. The man, clearly noticing this change and knowing that Dean must have saw the woman, revealed his black eyes before grabbing Dean by the jacket and throwing him against the front door._

  
_The demon smiled. 'You were saying? Dean?' he teased._

  
_'You know, I'd think twice.' Dean warned. 'Or don't you know that your boss issued a hands off memo?' he quipped, referring to the agreement he made with Crowley._

  
_The demon laughed, 'Please. What have you done for him lately?' He continued, 'Roman's head on a plate? No?'_

  
_Dean looked away knowing that Crowley wasn't one for patience._

  
_'Whatever Emmanuel is, Crowleys's gonna want him.' the demon explained, 'a lot more than he wants you these days. So...'_

  
_He stepped foward in an attempt to attack Dean but Dean had already pulled the demon blade out. He stabbed the Demon causing him to scream out in pain. When Dean saw the last flicker of life leave his eyes, he pulled the knife out and shoved him down the steps. The demons body rolled until it came to a stop at the feet of a man in grey slacks and a dark blue sweater._

  
_Dean's entire world came to a screeching halt as he stared into the crystal blue eyes that he had feared he'd never see again._

  
_There, standing at the bottom of the porch steps was Castiel._

  
_Dean experienced countless emotions at once in that moment. Confusion, fear, joy, causion, but one rang truer and louder than the rest._

  
_Hope.'_

  
Castiel paused here to check the time. It was nearly seven in the morning and he knew he didn't have much time before the others would wake up. He wanted to finish as much as he could before Charlie came to collect her computer.

  
So for the next several chapters, Cas did his best to speed through them. He took in the information but did not allow himself the time to react to anything. He skimmed through the parts the mentioned his memories returning and when Dean had revealed that he kept his trenchcoat. After that, he had immediately relieved Sam of the mental burden which he had caused. He smiled fondly when he read about Meg volunteering to watch over him.

  
Everything from these chapters, he could vaguely remember experiencing. It was as he was approaching the end of the chapter in which he and Dean kill Dick Roman and get sent to purgatory, that he hears movement from the hallway.

  
He quickly closed the laptop and tried to appear natural but he didn't know what to do with his hands. He was still fidgeting when Dean walked into the kitchen.

  
"Mornin' Cas." he said groggily, his eyes only half open. He groaned as he made himself some coffee. He set the pot on the machine and then sat in the spot across from Cas. Dean crossed his arms on top the table and dropped his head onto them.

  
Cas held back a smile. "Rough morning?" he asked, his tone teasing.

  
Dean simply grunted in response to which Cas laughed at. He sat up and told Cas, "Rough mornin usually means a fun night so I ain't complainin' much." A warm smile spread across his face as he held the angels gaze.

  
Castiel couldn't help but think about how beautiful Dean was like this. His hair was in disarray, his under eyes slightly heavy from not enough sleep, all his features soft with the quiet contentment of waking up in a home that safetly housed his brother and his best friends.

  
It was moments like this where Cas was awe struck at how lucky he was to be in love with Dean Winchester.


End file.
